I am blessed to have been born a white man in Africa that has had all the priviliges of a colonial system and who emigrated to Australia as an educated professional. 

One thing that I have gleaned over my 59 years is “One can justify anything….. “

By not doing anything and speaking out about what you believe is wrong – is as bad as performing the misdeed! 

I am priviliged to be part of the BSI and BBG  community – organisations that aspires to “help you create your generational legacy”  and live by common values of TREAT 

Team first – every citizen in your community is part of your team – and you need to do everything in your power to build them up 

Respect – of your fellow human

Energy – passion , and belief in what you do 

Adventure – it’s ok to take risks and innovate – and do the best you possibly can – as your team has your back 

Trust – you need to build trust and transparency with your fellow citizen . You do this by agreeing to live by these basic values 

In this community 

• Racism is not ok
• Violence is not ok 
• Abuse of power is not ok 

And they need to be called out 

If people go by the laws of treat and focus on treating their neighbour the way they would like to be treated – we would go a long way to building a caring community that will survive , thrive and grow.

We are only as strong as our weakest link … and the right thing to do in any system is to put resources behind the weakest link – until that weak link is strong – and then find another weak link – and rinse and repeat!  (Theory of Constraints – Eli Goldratt) 

There has and always will be inequality …. the way we help our fellow humans and living creatures – will determine the wealth and well being of our society .

There are many wrongs to make right , and many weak links to strengthen. 

Do we  “go back to normal” or do we work to strengthening those weak links and make the world a better place? 

We cannot allow racism and bigotry to have a voice . We cannot keep quiet and watch injustices happen – or we will be complicit . 

I am grateful to be living in Australia which is largely governed by the values that we strive to live by, and provides their citizens with the means to survive, thrive and grow with a freedom of religion. 

As a global citizen , we need to be a shining light to the rest of the world, and live by the standards and values that we hold dear! 

As Mike Cannon Brookes of Atlassian says …. change comes from our voices. We need  to speak up, listen and learn. 

Maybe the BBG Diversity and Inclusion forum can be the start of a movement to build on our strengths and support each other to grow through learning and collaboration

(Inspired by Mike Cannon Brookes Email to his team and stakeholders) https://www.atlassian.com/blog/announcements/the-standard-you-walk-past-is-the-standard-you-accept